Month: December 2015

News

The One Act Festival: New Winter Series at Lighthouse Festival Theatre

Posted on December 22, 2015

For Immediate Release:

New Winter Festival At Lighthouse Festival Theatre
The One Act Festival Features Three Shows January to March

December 22, 2015. Port Dover, ON- Lighthouse Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director, Derek Ritschel, is thrilled to announce a new winter artist series in 2016 from January to March. The One Act Festival is comprised of three single act shows created and performed by some of the top artists in the industry. Each show has toured internationally and now Ritschel is showcasing them in Port Dover.

“For years, people have been asking me to try a winter series. Truth is, the idea has always made me nervous because I wasn’t sure if people would be interested in coming to Dover during the winter months,” shares Ritschel. “However, I think we, as a theatre and a town, have grown enough to embrace this exciting new venture and confidently launch The One Act Festival.”

Ritschel continues, “I’ll admit, I’ve stacked the deck a bit high here. I went out and chose three of my all time favourite one acts to kick off this new series. I personally know each performer and show and I’m eager to welcome them to our stage.”

The Festival opens January 22nd with SUDDENLY MOMMY, a comedy play by AnnMarie Sheffler. This uproarious one woman show takes you through the roller coaster ride that is parenting and turns it into something everyone can laugh at.

On February 20th, we welcome Melody A. Johnson. MISS CALEDONIA is a heartwarming story about Melody’s own mother who is desperate to escape her drudgery life in Caledonia, Ontario to become a movie star. This popular one woman show was originally workshopped at Lighthouse, and we are proud to finally bring it home.

Chris Gibbs will perform his rollicking show LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON? SORRY. on March 26th. “I have worked with Chris and find him to be one of the funniest performers I have ever come across. This was a selfish booking on my part,” Ritschel explains. CBC describes Gibbs’ performance as “Thoroughly entertaining and hilarious.”

The One Act Festival is just $59 for a three show subscription or $25 each.

The One Act Festival Productions:

SUDDENLY MOMMY – January 22, 8:00pm
Written by and starring Ann Marie Scheffler
This hilarious one-woman show takes us through every mom’s experience of good times, bad advice, and trying to do it all. From hot dates to play dates, experience the rollicking roller coaster of motherhood. Because no matter how you planned it… it always comes suddenly!

MISS CALEDONIA- February 20, 8:00pm
Written by and starring Melody A. Johnson
The year is 1955. Desperate to escape the chicory-pulling, stall-cleaning, hay-bailing drudgery of life in RR#2 Caledonia, Peggy Ann Douglas has a plan. Following in the footsteps of starlets Debbie Reynolds and Lee Meriwether, Peggy Ann will simply become a movie star – and she will start her journey to the top by winning the local pageant.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON? SORRY. – March 26, 8:00pm
Written by and starring Chris Gibbs
Chris Gibbs has been unqualified for many jobs… he was an overweight acrobat, a private school English teacher whose only qualification was a British accent, and a Titanic Museum re-enactor fired after one day for “adding a few jokes”. Then he found himself in the most difficult, most important job of all… fatherhood.

News

#GIVINGTUESDAY Donor Spotlight

Posted on December 1, 2015

In the spirit of #GivingTuesday, we would like to share a snapshot of two of our donors, Richard and Karen Davis. They have moved many times in their lives, but have been settled between Port Dover, in the summer months, and South Carolina, in the winter, for the last 10 years. They are wonderful, caring people with a contagious passion for the viability of the arts in our community. They have gone out of their way many times to show support for Lighthouse Festival Theatre’s growth and improvement, and we feel incredibly fortunate and grateful to have gotten to know them better over the past 2 years:

“We learned about Lighthouse from the very beginning of our time in Pt. Dover. It represented the one cultural offering that didn’t require a drive to Hamilton, Buffalo or Toronto. We bought a season subscription that first year and have continued to do so every year since.

Almost every year there’s a show that stands out. We appreciate that Lighthouse provides a forum for Canadian themes and playwrights. Specific highlights for us include Jasper Station, 39 Steps, and the first time we saw Norm Foster perform in one of his own plays.

We recently spent 3 years in France. We returned in the summers, so continued our season subscription. Since our return in 2012, we’ve seen the theatre grow and evolve, and become an integral part of Port Dover’s development, which is adding to the quality of life in the community.

We’ve been involved with fundraising for many years and with many organizations. We believe that we have a responsibility to support the community in which we live and organizations whose mission we value. As donors, we want to know what we’re supporting and what effect our gifts will have on the organization. As we’ve seen Lighthouse become more clear about how contributions will be used and for what purpose, the more involved we’ve become in supporting it.”

– Richard and Karen Davis